A cold press used for the production of green compacts, also referred to as blanks, for diamond-containing tool segments is known in the prior art. The cold press comprises a tool matrix, in the matrix adapter of which appropriate green compacts are compressed. For the purpose of pressing the green compacts, an upper ram is driven downwardly into the matrix adapter. The finished green compacts are then subjected to high pressure and a high temperature and are thus sintered under pressure in a pressure-sintering apparatus to form the finished tool segments.
EP 0 452 618 A1 discloses a cold press and an apparatus and a method for the production of green compacts for diamond-containing tool segments. In this reference, sinterable metal powder alternating with layers of diamond granules is combined to form a layer architecture comprising a plurality of layers of sinterable metal powder and diamond granules embedded in-between in a matrix resembling a cup or a container. After all the layers have been superposed, a pressure ram is introduced into the container-like matrix to compress the different layers of metal powder and diamond granules to form a green compact.